STATE EXTRA: One game away

RICHMOND – Buffalo Gap pushed by Franklin with a 56-47 win on Thursday in the semifinal round of the Group A, Division 1 tournament.

The game started out like a replay of the Bison’s state quarterfinal game against West Point at JMU were they where throwing up 3 pointers and pushing a useless full court press.

Gap’s defense couldn’t stop the Broncos from forcing their way to the basket, even with a height advantage. The Bison’s shots wouldn’t fall, to make matters worse, shooting just 5-14 in the first. The teams went into the second quarter tied at 15.

“I feel like we took pretty good shots, they just weren’t falling for us,” said second-year Buffalo Gap coach Chad Coffey. “They were good shots when you’re talking about selection.”

The Bison came out in the second quarter looking the same as they did in the first. A few minutes into the stanza, Gap’s powerhouse Sara Lamneck was benched with three fouls — something that the Broncos were more than pleased about — but what the Broncos didn’t know was that Gap’s Courtney Sanderson was ready to take over for Lamneck.

“I guess I was just too excited or something,” Lamneck said about her foul trouble. “We all know that whoever goes in and plays will handle the pressure and get the job done.”

Sanderson scored almost half of gap’s 13 points in the second, taking her team to a 28-26 lead before the half.

“[Franklin] kept us on our heels for most of the first half,” Coffey said. “They really challenged the girls defensively and on the boards.”

The Broncos came out of the break with steam shooting from their nostrils and it wasn’t long before they took the lead from the Bison. Actually, it was Franklin’s Kiara Lee who took the lead since she scored eight Bronco points that quarter. Gap wouldn’t put up with that though and the score went back-and-forth until Lamneck reentered the game and kicked Gap into high gear.

“Franklin is streaky,” Coffey said. “I knew that any one of those four players would come out and get hot, though, I thought it would be No. 30 [Timia Hobbs] because of the way she drove in against us.”

The teams went into the final quarter with Gap leading 39-34.

“Our girls played a solid defense,” Coffey said. “They really protected the basket there in the second half.”

Early on in the final quarter Lamneck got her fourth foul and was again benched. Franklin tied the game at 39 with a 3 pointer from Keshara Bradley, followed by a jumper from Lee. Lamneck then returned with more than five minutes on the clock.

The score continued to see-saw until the Bison began to run away with it, leaving the Broncos in the dust. Back-to-back shots from Sanderson and Holly Morgan took the score to 47-43 followed by a three-point play from Angie Harris which put Gap up by seven. The Bison continually pounded the ball into the basket until the final buzzer rang.

“Our rebounding was the difference in the fourth quarter,” Coffey said. “We didn’t give them [Franklin] the second and third chances like before. That was the biggest thing that gave us the win.” 

Leading the way for the Bison was Morgan with 18 points and 13 rebounds followed by Lamneck who had 15 points and seven rebounds. The Broncos top scorer was Lee with 15 points and eight rebounds followed up by Bradley who had 10 points and 16 rebounds.

The Bison will defend their title today at 2 p.m. against Bland County.

“I’m just glad to survive another day,” Coffey said. “I told the girls to enjoy the victory because you can’t take that for granted. We’ll do what we need to do to be prepared for tomorrow.”